Event report

•The Western Balkans (WB) are part of Europe. Their accession to the EU is not a matter of if but a matter of when. •In order to ensure a sustained political support to the WB on the path to the EU membership, to keep the region committed to the process of the EU integration and to strengthen the EU leverage in the region, strengthened political approach to the WB is needed. •It is important to translate words into action if we want to anchor the WB firmly to the EU. A firm, merit-based prospect of full EU membership is in the Union’s very own political, security and economic interest. Issues such as EU’s global role, migration, digital transformation, rule of law, climate change, brain drain, are fields of common interest and challenges that need to be addressed in a more coordinated and comprehensive way. •A credible accession perspective is also the key incentive for transformation in the region. It is important that the EU has a clear policy and unified positions towards the WB. •We need to keep the momentum and reach out to the people in the WB with a forward-looking optimistic agenda. Today, the people in the region are experiencing a sense of disappointment in the enlargement process, while we note a widespread perception in the WB that the prospect of accession is receding. Therefore, there is a need for a more visible engagement with civil society. We need to win again hearts and minds of people in WB and make them again believe in their European future. •The dialogue on the future of Europe is a case that concerns all, current and future, EU citizens. Therefore, the respective opinions/ideas/suggestions of WB citizens count.